This weekend we attended a church wedding. I know, right? A wedding in a church! Maybe it’s because I spend my time with a bunch of hooligans and heathens, but this was actually the first church wedding (or even indoor wedding) I had been to since my own in 2001. And since it was held in fancy schmancy Newport Beach (of The OC fame), I had to dress all of my guys up in formal attire.
Now we’s simple folk and we don’t really go for them fancy clothes, and I don’t like spending big money on clothes I know will only be worn once or twice. So I hit up some consignment shops and overstock stores like Ross and Marshall’s and managed to throw together two formal outfits for my kids for under $30. The one thing I couldn’t find was a cute tie for Milo to match his hand-me-down navy pinstripe trousers. So I did what any crafty momma would do–found a $3 tie on clearance in the men’s section and made a few cuts and and stitches and managed to make a very cute boy’s tie.
This is how I done it:

You will need:
A cheap men’s tie
piece of elastic cut to the size of the child’s collar
needle & thread
cloth scissors
ruler
steam iron
sewing machine (optional–all stitching can be done by hand)

Flip it over and remove all of the elements on the back, including labels and the little stitch that holds the back flaps together.

From the widest part of the tie, cut the tie to the desired finished length (you want the full length of the entire tie from the top of the “knot” portion to the tip, not just the length of the “tail” pieces). My tie was about 8″ long for a size 18-month outfit.

Place the narrow end of the tie against the back of your cut piece and cut it off to the desired length.

Cut off an additional piece from the narrow end to make your “knot” piece. It should be about 1/2 the length of the first piece you cut. For a fatter knot, cut it longer, for a skinnier knot, cut a bit shorter. The pictured knot piece is 4″ long.

To make the knot:
Set a steam iron to the “silk” setting.
Turn the knot piece over so that the back flaps are facing up. Fold the left side towards the center at a slight angle and press flat with the steam iron.
Do the same to the right side. The left and right sides should slightly overlap each other.
When you flip the knot over it should look like the second picture above–a trapezoid that is longer on the top than on the bottom.
Still working from the back, tuck the overhanging pieces down to make a little pocket and press with the iron.
When you flip it over, the finished knot piece should look like the last picture in the series above.

Place the large tail piece right side down and open it up.

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